From difference to danger: algorithmic amplification and the digital construction of autism in violence narratives

This study examines how autism is constructed as a perceived marker of danger within digitally mediated violence narratives. Drawing on qualitative content analysis as the primary analytical method, complemented by a non-participant digital ethnographic perspective, the article analyzes 40 videos (18 primary and 22 response videos) and 620 user comments from high-visibility content on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube Shorts. The analysis identifies interrelated processes of stigma, labeling, affective intensification, and platform-mediated visibility; algorithmic amplification is treated as an interpretive dimension of the platform context rather than as a directly measured causal effect.

To conceptualize this process, the article introduces cyber totemization as a process of symbolic-affective condensation through which complex and internally heterogeneous identities are reduced to simplified, emotionally charged, and circulable markers of risk. Within the sampled high-visibility material, stigmatizing narratives emerged rapidly under conditions of uncertainty, while corrective responses appeared less prominent and more fragile. By integrating sociological theory with contemporary platform scholarship, the study contributes to communication and digital media research by providing a process-oriented account of how stigma is constructed, circulated, contested, and rendered visible in platform-mediated environments.

The article further advances a rights-based ethical framework, emphasizing the need to address not only misinformation but the structural conditions that enable the persistence of stigmatizing representations. Department of Sociology, Sinop University, Sinop, Turkey The authors declare no competing interests. This article does not contain any studies with human participants performed by the author.

The study relied exclusively on publicly available digital content analyzed in anonymized form. Informed consent was not required because the study used publicly accessible anonymized digital content and did not involve direct interaction with individuals. Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

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To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. From difference to danger: algorithmic amplification and the digital construction of autism in violence narratives. Humanit Soc Sci Commun (2026). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-026-09577-8 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-026-09577-8